Many of the documents created by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) reference other documents. Much time and difficult effort are often consumed searching for those references and then locating the specific sections within the document. This unnecessarily complicates and lengthens the patent prosecution process. The references can be found manually either via accessing paper records or through electronic access. The potential exists for many proper references to go undetected.
Therefore, there is a need for systems and methods that address these and/or other perceived shortcomings.